A DISABLED bus user says he has been unable to use his free pass on the 12 service from Kidderminster to Franche due to there being no space for his wheelchair.

Christopher Beddoes, who is confined to a wheelchair after suffering a broken back, says he has been "left at the side of the road" on several occasions since charity Wyre Forest Dial-a-Ride took over the number 12 from Diamond Bus in September.

He told The Shuttle: "I used to use the 12 bus service two or three times a week but since it was taken over the only time I've been able to get on is when they had a replacement bus on.

"The bus pulls up and everyone else gets on without any problem, then the driver says there's no room for me so I'm just left there at the side of the road. One driver told me it was the 4th time he had turned someone away that day.

"It's embarrassing and makes me feel like a second class citizen just because I'm in a wheelchair."

He added: "I've complained to Dial-a-Ride who said I should use a pre-booked service and pay a small fee. But I've got a free bus pass because I'm disabled. Why should I have to pay?"

Fellow bus user Pauline Smith, 74, says she now has to walk further to catch the 297, due to the 12 being too overcrowded for her to get on.

"If the weather's bad and it's icy on the ground I can't risk walking that far to catch a different bus," she said. "The bus just isn't big enough."

David Muggeridge, operations manager at Wyre Forest Dial-a-Ride, said the charity was doing the best it could.

"The previous provider stopped providing this service so the county council asked us if there was something we could do to help rather than leave these residents without a vehicle," he said. "I said we had a 16-seater vehicle and that we would certainly help as best we can, which is what we're doing.

"We do carry people with wheelchairs. Normally they transfer into a seat and the chair is stored. However, for some people who aren't able to transfer from their chair, it means there isn't the space.

"The service is heavily oversubscribed."

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said all Dial-a-Ride vehicles complied with the Disability Discrimination Act.